


Like Real People Do

by orphan_account



Series: When The World Is Against Us [2]
Category: Harry Potter - Fandom
Genre: Anal Sex, Blowjobs, Boyfriends, Consensual Underage Sex, F/M, Fighting, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Gay Sex, Graphic Violence, Just some badass gays doing some badass things, M/M, Non-Romantic Sex, Smut, growing relationship, handjobs, relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2020-05-02
Packaged: 2021-03-01 09:01:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23468845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: A continuation of 'In The Woods Somewhere' for those of you who asked for it!Growing feelings, new friendships, and war. Life continues to get crazier by the minute for Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter as they navigate their budding relationship, all the while trying to fight an evil madman on the rise.*Part 3 in the works*
Relationships: Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley
Series: When The World Is Against Us [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1688299
Kudos: 11





	Like Real People Do

**Author's Note:**

> This fic will contain some smut and will contain violence and fighting that may become intense as the story progresses. This fic is the second part of my new series "When the World is Against Us' and will not make sense if you do not read the first part beforehand.  
> This fic is also based on a Hozier song, hence, the title. This fic will include much more fluff and romantic relationship growth than 'In The Woods Somewhere'.  
> Also: Just an extra detail, the order of which the Horcruxes are destroyed will not be canon and the people whom they are destroyed by will also not always be canon. In this fic, we already know that there are seven Horcruxes, just not where they are or what they are.

Hermione casually handed out cups of tea to the lot of them, who sat on the floor of the tent in a half-circle. Ron smiled toward her as she took a seat next to him, then sipped his steaming hot tea. 

"So, what are we going to do today?" Asked Draco, breaking the silence. He was still in his pajamas (though they weren't exactly pajamas, he was just shirtless and wearing his jeans from the previous day) as were the rest of them. It was still quite early in the morning and the sun was shining down on their shelter, warm and bright. Harry was sitting next to Draco, sipping his tea and trying his hardest to refrain from staring at Draco's uncovered chest. 

This task was proving to be harder than he thought it would. This was why Harry was intently staring into his cup of tea, focusing on nothing other than avoiding the inevitable.

"I think we should try to find out more about these Horcruxes. If Voldemort made seven, and we've only found one, that means there are six more out there. They've all got to be hidden incredibly well if nobody has found them by now," Hermione explained. 

"How are we supposed to do that, 'Mione? If you don't know anything more than the rest of us do then that must mean there aren't any books about them," Asked Ron.

Hermione blushed, "No, there aren't. It's incredibly dark magic, you can't really find much information. I think we should try to figure out some places that he would have found significant, though. We might be able to find some of the Horcruxes there. Even if we don't get far, it's at least a start."

"What would he have valued, though? I mean, I can't see You-Know-Who as being a very sentimental person," Added Harry, sounding sort of distant as he caught his eyes betraying him again.

Draco cleared his throat, swatting Harry's bicep, "Well, he does actually put more meaning behind things than he needs to. Or at least, that's what my parents told me before they ran off. I think that Hermione's plan will work, if we can find out where he grew up and where certain events in his life took place, I'd say we'll find at least one more Horcrux."

***

Hermione was frantically flipping through the pages of a worn-out book, the cover of which was hanging on by a thread. She jammed her pointer finger down onto a sentence, momentarily celebrating as she found what she had been looking for. Ron looked up from the radio, which he was intently listening to, hoping there would finally be some bit of good news (hint: there wasn't, everything still sucked in the outside world).

"What'd you find, Hermione?" He asked, crawling over to her. He avoided Draco, who was already at her side, to the best of his ability. 

"I still had our old History of Magic textbook in my purse, thank Merlin I keep hold of almost every book I read, and I decided to find out if there was any information about the Riddle family that might be able to help us in it."

"Was there any information?" Ron asked, rather stupidly.

Draco rolled his eyes, "Obviously, you idiot, she's getting to that."

Hermione tried to look disapproving of Draco's reply, but she was visibly fighting back a smile. Draco beckoned Harry over to sit down next to him. Harry crawled over to the three from the other side of the tent.

"What's going on?" He asked, all but snuggling into Draco's shoulder.

"Your ferret is calling me an idiot. We also found out some new information about You-Know-Who."

Harry smiled and sat up a bit more, withdrawing from Draco's upper arm, "Well, tell us, then! What is it?"

"Well, Voldemort grew up in an orphanage. He didn't have much and he certainly wanted more than he had. Apparently, a family heirloom, a ring, was stolen from a man named Marvolo Gaunt. Something else was also taken from Marvolo Gaunt, Harry. The locket, the one you keep on you. I wouldn't call it such a stretch to say that the ring was also stolen and made into a Horcrux by Tom Riddle."

Harry thought for a moment before his eyes became as large as saucers, "Hermione, you're a genius! You know what, that makes perfect sense. What did the ring look like, did it say?"

"Uh, yes, it did. It had a gold base and a dark-colored stone on top."

"That's already been destroyed! Dumbledore, he destroyed it before he betrayed us! That's why his hand was all black, he wore it, but it was tainted. I've seen the ring, it's cracked down the middle and last I knew it was in his office. He must have had something to destroy it with." 

"Harry, I wonder if he destroyed it with the Sword. I mean, basilisk fangs aren't easy to come by, and if you killed the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets with the Sword of Gryffindor, it might have retained some of the venom. Think about it, Dumbledore would have easily had access to the sword, and the ring was still in his office last you saw it so I doubt he traveled much farther than that to destroy it," Ron said. 

Everyone's faces lit up at the sound of this. It was a light in the darkness, a breakthrough that nobody had expected would come so early on.

Hermione flung herself at him and grabbed his shoulders, kissing him on the lips as hard as she possibly could. It knocked the wind out of Ron, who made a small sound of surprise before closing his eyes and wrapping both of his arms around his girlfriend's waist lovingly so he could pull her closer.

"Jesus you two, get a fucking room," Draco complained, grabbing the nearest object he could find and chucking it at the couple.

Andromeda walked through the opening of the tent just in time to see this and joked, "I could say the same of you and Harry."

Draco was about to protest and deny her statement when Andromeda slyly winked at him and said, "Only kidding."

***

"This is fucking ridiculous," Ron grumbled as he stepped over a pile of sticks and leaves.

Hermione shot him a look of warning and whispered, "Watch your tongue."

Draco smiled at Harry and leaned in, his breath hot on the back of his tanned neck, "Are they a _thing?_ Are they actually seeing each other? Or are they just kissing and shit?"

"Yeah, since last year. It's kind of getting annoying, them hanging all over each other and all."

"Why's it annoying? I mean, I know it's kind of gross, but you must be used to it by now."

"It just reminds me of how alone I am."

That was a blow to Draco's pride. He felt like he'd been punched in the gut by a troll. All this time, he'd been here for Harry, and still, he considered himself to be alone. Hermione and Ron were about a quarter-mile ahead of them by now. Draco sped up slightly to get in front of Harry and closer to them so he could hide the emotions that were taking hold of him from the other boy.

Harry jogged up to him with a concerned expression, having caught sight of Draco's quivering lip. 

"What's wrong, Draco?" 

"Nothing."

"Why do you look so sad, then?"

"I'm fine, Potter."

"Don't lie to me."

"I'm fucking fine. Stop asking."

Harry was about to insist, again, that Draco tell him what was wrong, but he was interrupted by Ron's complaints.

"Hermione, why are we walking right now? It's too damn hot."

"It's not hot at all, Ron. We've been sitting around all day researching and watching you play chess with Harry, we all needed to get up and start moving. Besides, Andromeda needs us to get something for our dinner. There's a river just down this hill, we'll catch some fish and I can try to transfigure a couple of rocks into potatoes. It'll be fun."

Ron twisted around to face Harry and jutted his thumb in Hermione's direction, rolling his eyes with a sigh. Harry snickered, which earned him a swat on the wrist from Draco, who was most fond of Hermione out of the three of them at the moment, "Be nice, she's made a good point," He admonished.

The four of them arrived at the river that Hermione had told them about, and Ron instantly picked up a fallen branch and began to whittle at it with a pocket knife he had pulled from the back pocket of his blue jeans.

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Making a spear, to catch some fish with," He responded. 

Draco smirked, "Give me your wand," He whispered to Harry.

"Why?"

"Just do it."

Harry apprehensively handed over his wand, placing it into Draco's hand gently. Draco held it with care and pointed it at the river, his smirk never fading. 

"Accio fish," He said proudly. Several salmon came through the air and into Draco's hand, flopping around madly.

Harry couldn't help but laugh. He doubled over, practically cackling as he clutched at his stomach and saw Ron's disappointed expression.

"Sorry, Weasley," Draco said, never taking his eyes off of Harry's form, now reduced to giggles and hiccups.

***

"Who do I have to thank?" Andromeda asked as she took the pile of dead fish from Harry's arms. He cocked his head toward Draco affectionately.

Andromeda smiled at her nephew and started up the fire, using her wand. Their group was sitting outside of the tent around a firepit that Andromeda had skillfully crafted while they were gone. Ron gave her his partially-made spear to cook the fish on over the fire. 

"I would have caught them, but Draco wanted to be a show-off," He mumbled.

"Oh shove it, Weasley, you'll live."

"C'mon Ron, it was funny," Harry said, chortling quietly as Draco stuck his tongue out at Ron. Ron glared at them sharply.

He crossed his arms, "I don't see why you're such a twat all of a sudden, Harry. Ever since you've started following _him_ around you've been acting different," He spat.

"What was that Wea-"

"Would you stop? This is so immature, Jesus. You're all acting like children. Ron, you're allowed to be frustrated but they're only joking," Hermione broke in, reminding Ron of his mum. Hermione was visibly frustrated with the young men around her, all of which were acting like young boys. She took Ron's arm and practically dragged him farther away from the rest of the group, all the while lecturing him about controlling his temper and understanding that everyone in this situation was equally stressed.

Draco turned to Harry with guilt plastered across his face, "I feel bad. I keep feeling bad. I'm so tired of feeling bad because of Ron fucking Weasley."

"You should feel bad," Andromeda piped up from her position near the campfire. 

"What?"

"You heard me. You two have been excluding him, he's obviously frustrated. I mean, from what I can tell, he doesn't like you much, Draco, and you're not putting in any effort to be nicer to him than he is to you. He's clearly frustrated that the two of you are hanging out more, without him. I'm sure he feels like he's been replaced, I would if I were in his shoes."

***

After dinner, which had been overflowing with tension so thick you could hardly breathe, all of them resumed their places in the 'beds' they had occupied the night before. Hermione was lying on her back, stroking Ron's hair comfortingly while he quietly ranted to her about why he was still angry with his best friend. She nodded and hummed softly in understanding every once in a while, but otherwise, she just listened. Draco was intently watching her from across the tent. He nudged Harry with his elbow subtly.

"They're adorable," He commented, as quietly as he could.

"Hm?"

"Your friends. They're cute together."

"You confuse me sometimes."

"Why?"

"Well, one minute you can't stand them, the next you're talking about their relationship," Harry explained.

Draco blushed, "Well, it is cute. You have to admit it. I wish someone would touch me like that," He replied, looking at Harry with pleading eyes.

"No, Draco. I am not doing that for you."

"Please, it doesn't have to be a romantic thing!"

"No, I just want to go to bed, it's late."

Harry tugged Draco down onto the ground with him, then sat up and flung the privacy curtain closed. 

"Harry, please. It's just my hair, I haven't had any proper human connection in however long, just do it for me."

"Christ, you sound like a whiny five-year-old. If I do it, will you finally shut up about it?"

Draco nodded excitedly, practically vibrating. So, that was how Harry Potter ended up cuddling Draco Malfoy and running his fingers through his platinum blonde locks of hair at eleven PM on a Thursday night. After about five minutes of this, Draco had drifted off to sleep, but Harry had stayed awake. Even though Harry knew this action was no longer necessary, he was finding it incredibly hard to pull away. In fact, it was almost impossible. He stayed that way for another hour or so, just holding the other boy and stroking his head affectionately.

That was when Harry Potter knew he was completely and totally fucked. 

***

The next morning they woke up in the same position they'd fallen asleep in, holding one another fondly. Draco opened his eyes and yawned, then reached back and patted Harry's arm to stir him. 

"Get off me, Potter, I need to piss."

Harry shifted slightly, made a non-committal grunting noise, then nuzzled Draco on the back of the neck, and slid closer to him. His arms were still wrapped firmly around Draco's slim frame.

"Merlin, move," Draco ordered for the second time.

Harry did not do as he had been told. 

Draco gripped Harry's wrist tightly and tugged it away from him, then rolled away from him and stood up. Harry opened his eyes and stared up at him, pouting. Draco looked down at him with a triumphant look, not noticing that Harry was aware of something that he was not.

A smile crept onto Harry's lips as his eyes moved elsewhere, away from Draco's still-gleeful gaze. He fought back a laugh and snorted instead.

Draco raised a thin eyebrow at him, "What?"

"You've got a-"

That was all Harry could choke out before he was thrown into a fit of giggles as Draco slowly looked down and saw exactly what Harry was seeing. He turned on his heel to face the opposite wall and cursed. The tent in his trousers was holding steady, refusing to leave. Draco cursed again as Harry began to laugh even harder than before.

"Oh, shut up, would you?" He grumbled, "It's not as though you've never had one before."

"Well, sure, but that doesn't make it any less hilarious," Harry said as his laughter diminished, rather unlike Draco's morning wood. Then, Hermione yanked open the curtain that was sheltering the two of them, and Draco yelped loudly in surprise. 

"Would you two keep your voices down? You've woken the rest of the tent up!"

"Sorry, Hermione. I was just laughing at Draco."

"Why?"

Draco turned his head toward Harry, still attempting to hide his crotch, and gave him an intense glare of warning, "Don't tell her," He mouthed.

Hermione sighed and, much to Draco's relief, swung the curtain shut once more and left them alone again. 

"How the fuck am I supposed to get rid of this?" He asked nobody in particular. He turned back toward Harry and sat down next to him again. Harry grinned.

"I could help."

"What? No!"

"Well, as you said about me touching you last night, it doesn't have to be romantic."

"Potter, how the hell would that not have any romantic meaning behind it?"

"Well, if you'd rather go jack off in the woods, then go right on ahead. I just thought that we'd be close enough by now that I could help and it wouldn't be too weird."

Draco thought it over for a moment, which definitely did not help his little issue. His erection throbbed as he went through the possible events to come in his head. Harry chuckled as he noticed Draco's hard-on growing larger in his trousers, "Would that be a yes, then?"

"You thought it was weird last night when I wanted you to touch my hair. You're a very confusing specimen, Potter," still, Draco sighed, nodding in resignation. He leaned back on his palms and raised himself slightly off of his bum so Harry could crawl over to him and slide his trousers down. He checked to make sure the curtain was closed, then nodded at Harry, allowing him to remove his pants as well. Harry smirked as Draco's cock came bouncing out of his boxers. It swayed in the air, mesmerizing him.

"God, Potter, don't stare," Draco reprimanded, blood rushing to his cheeks and the tips of his ears. 

"You haven't got anything to be ashamed of, Malfoy," He breathed, tearing his eyes away from Draco's member. 

Draco chuckled, looking down and momentarily staring at his own aroused cock, "I never said I did."

"A bit _cocky,_ are we, Malfoy," Harry joked, positioning himself on his knees in front of Draco as he stood up at far as he was able to with the restrictive height of the tent ceiling.

"Oh, just get on with it would you?" Draco snapped, motioning toward his swaying cock.

Harry locked eyes with Draco and began to palm his balls, massaging them gently. Draco's breathing hitched and Harry watched as several emotions seemed to flood into his silvery eyes. He teasingly ran his tongue along the red bell-end of Draco's phallus, which earned him a small moan from Draco.

"Hurry up, faster," Draco breathed out, eager to get the sensual stuff over with. Harry obeyed, taking his entire head into his mouth. Draco's tip was now slick with a mixture of saliva and precum, which lubricated the rest of his shaft as Harry began to bob his head, moving back and forth and taking various amounts of Draco's length into his mouth at a time. 

When Draco felt his member hit the back of Harry's throat for the first time, he unwillingly yelled out in pleasure, then slammed his own hand against the mouth that had betrayed him. Harry seemed to be rather spurred on by this. Despite struggling to fight off gags each time he felt Draco's tip slam against the back of his throat, he picked up a pace that nearly had Draco crying out in pleasure again. 

Draco bucked into Harry's mouth, in time with the movements of his head, and fisted his messy, jet-black hair. He let his hand slip away from his mouth and softly moaned, and quietly as he could manage.   
  
Harry wrapped his hand around Draco's shaft and stopped taking his full length into his mouth. Instead, he pulled back and left only the end of it inside, messily circling it with his tongue. He began to tug at Draco's erection with his hand, making the same motions that he would have made if he were wanking. Draco moaned again as he bucked into Harry's hand, unable to stop himself. This time, his moans were far louder than before. Draco cursed himself, despairingly hoping that nobody else could hear the two of them.

Though nothing is ever as it seems, and Draco usually did not get his way, so the reality was that they had alerted the rest of the tent. Without warning, their curtain was flung open. The two of them all but flew apart and Draco hurried to cover himself with any item he could find. In the background, they could hear Andromeda yelling from the door of the tent, "Hermione, no!"

Then, when Hermione actually caught sight of them and recognized the situation, she gasped, then screamed, then flung the curtain shut, then began to yell at the pair of them from behind the safety of the cloth. 

***

Over an hour later, Harry had finally convinced Draco to leave their bedroom, as he was _fucking hungry_ and _'Merlin, Draco, they'll all see us again no matter what when we come out of here'._

Reluctantly, Draco was led out into the center of the tent by the wrist, then outside to the fire where the rest of their group were busy eating their lunch, which was fish and chips that Andromeda had somehow managed to steal from a muggle restaurant. If you asked her how exactly she'd managed to steal enough fish and chips for five people without being noticed, she would refuse to meet your eyes and mumble something along the lines of 'I was very, very, careful.'

Once they'd reached the rest of the group, every eye stared intently at the two of them. Hermione shot Draco and Harry an apologetic gaze and mouthed, "I'm so sorry," when Draco glared at her with stony eyes and a scowl. 

"I hereby forbid each and every one of you from discussing what happened earlier," Draco announced, eyes sweeping over the three who sat on the ground. Ron snorted, a red blush high on his cheeks. Draco instinctually lunged at him, but Harry grabbed his elbow, holding him back. Draco all but growled at Harry but allowed himself to be pulled away from his to-be victim. 

"What Draco means is, um, let's just forget about it," Harry corrected, grabbing a couple of chips and practically shoving them into his mouth. Draco sat down, tugging his arm away from Harry and begrudgingly taking the meal that Andromeda had stolen for him. Harry did the same, though without a scowl or a glare. 

Ron cleared his throat, drawing attention to himself, "So, when are we actually going to fight that snake-faced bastard?"

***

"Harry, this really isn't a good idea, we should wait a bit longer," She urged.

"Wait for what? For Voldemort to back down and say 'peace out, see you later'?"

Hermione groaned in frustration, "No-"

"That settles it then, we're going. We need to get the sword and start finding these Horcruxes."

"How exactly do you plan on getting to Hogwarts? We can't exactly apparate there, and we don't have a portkey," Andromeda questioned skeptically.

Draco turned to his aunt, guiltily, "Actually, Andi, that's where you come in."

Andromeda frowned, "You want me to steal brooms?"

Hermione opened her mouth, ready to chew the boys out when Andromeda spoke again, "That's awesome!"

"The plan is, you'll go into the village, and find your way to Diagon Alley. Steal three brooms if you can. Apparate back to us, and we'll take off towards Hogwarts," Harry explained. Hermione was glaring daggers at him, clearly disapproving of his plan. Even so, she kept her mouth shut, for which Harry was incredibly grateful.

***

Andromeda popped back into existence in the middle of a very busy muggle street. She hurried over to the sidewalk, following the flow of the people who were going about their daily routines, and then ducked into an empty alleyway between two tall apartment complexes that loomed over the population of London, England. She unveiled her wand from her coat pocket cautiously, then circled her wand around her body as if binding herself with ropes and cast a disillusionment charm upon herself. 

She looked down at her hands, checking them over carefully. They were the same texture and color as the pavement below. She smiled, quite pleased with herself, then strode out into the crowd again, keeping off to the side as to not be plowed over by passing civilians. 

About a mile and three left turns later, she spotted the rusted sign of the 'Leaky Cauldron' hanging overhead. She grabbed the bronze handle and pulled it open, stepping over the threshold. 

Making no mistakes about it, she beelined for the far brick wall. Approaching it, she tapped the correct combination of bricks, and the wall magically transformed into an archway that led into the bustling streets of Diagon Alley. Many were lingering around storefronts and chattering with loved ones animatedly. Though Andromeda would have enjoyed observing the wonder of it all, she knew what she had to do instead. 

She raised her wand confidently, pointing it directly at Quality Quidditch Supplies. 

"Accio brooms," She whispered. 

Then, through the air, came dozens of brooms. They crashed through the glass windows of Quality Quidditch Supplies, as well as several other surrounding shops. Children hid behind their parents, who began to scream and run. Several bystanders were struck by rampant broom handles. Andromeda snatched up several brooms from the concrete around her and then spun on the spot as quickly as she was able, focusing on the area where the others were. 

She appeared before them, the charm she'd placed upon herself having worn off, and crashed to the ground. She was covered in dust and sweat. She lay there in the grass, heaving, with a large grin on her face. 

"Christ, Ands!" Ron yelped.

Harry bent down and examined the brooms that were lying in the grass next to Andromeda, who was now breathing heavily as she carefully raised herself from the dirt. 

"These are Nimbus 2000s! How did you get these?" Harry exclaimed, beaming. 

Andromeda shrugged casually, dusting herself off as she fully rose to her feet, "It was nothing."

***

Fifteen minutes later they were off, soaring through the air. Ron and Hermione were sharing a broom, Ron in front with Hermione clutching onto him, her arms wrapped around his middle. Harry and Draco also shared a broom. The two of them had spent quite a while quarreling over who would take the front, and it ended with Draco begrudgingly sitting behind Harry and loosely holding onto him as they flew towards Hogwarts. 

The wind made their eyes water as they picked up speed. The clouds overhead were wispy and sparse. Below stood muggle London, busy with oblivious passerby who went about their daily lives as though there weren't five people flying through the blue sky on broomsticks above them. 

"The castle is to the right!" Andromeda called out to them over the sound of rushing wind. 

They all turned toward the Hogwarts castle, which was peaking out through the clouds and blue sky. The towers appeared to be very small from their position, high above and far away. 

As they neared the school, a ball of nervousness settled in the pit of Harry's stomach. He felt slightly nauseous. He hunched forward, practically nose-to-wood with the broomstick handle beneath him. Draco leaned down with him, pressing his torso against Harry's back. He held onto him tighter and uncontrollably let out a scream as they abruptly dipped and swerved. 

Harry chuckled, though it was washed out by the still-rushing wind. Finally, they reached the castle and landed swiftly on the astronomy tower. Draco all but topped off the broom that he and Harry had ridden, and Ron was leaning over the balcony, green in the face. 

"If you two can't handle that then how the hell are you supposed to help us steal an important artifact?" Hermione questioned, rolling her eyes. Andromeda nodded her agreement.

Harry clapped his hands together, drawing attention to himself. 

"We need a plan. Andi and 'Mione, you both keep watch for anyone coming down the corridor while Draco and Ron search for the sword. I'll stand farther down the corridor just in case anyone comes down that way and you two are caught off guard," He explained, gesturing to each person as he assigned them their tasks. 

***

Standing outside the (now irreversibly vandalized) gargoyle that guarded Dumbledore's old office, Hermione's heart was pounding so hard that she thought it may bounce right out of her chest. Her eyes darted around her quickly, checking each corner every five seconds. Every time she heard even the slightest of sounds, she jumped. Andromeda placed her hand on Hermione's forearm, forcing her to look at her, and whispered, "It's going to be alright."

Nonetheless, Andromeda was just as panicked as Hermione was, though she did not let it show. 

Down the hall, Harry was crouching, his wand held out in front of him. He was prepared to fight anyone who came after their group, no matter the consequences. 

In the office, Ron and Draco were frantically searching for the Sword Of Gryffindor. Ron was almost completely underneath the desk, pushing aside mothballs and cobwebs. Draco kicked him impatiently, "You idiot, it's not going to be underneath there."

Ron blushed, pushing himself out from underneath the desk, "I'm not sure you have any better ideas!"

"Well, it is in a glass case above his desk, you dimwit."

Ron blushed even harder as he raised his head and recognized that Draco, in fact, was correct. Then, there were screams.

Harry ran down the hallway toward Andromeda and Hermione, who were blasting spells and sparks at two hooded figures, both brandishing bold, black dark marks on their left forearms. Harry raised his wand shouted, "Expelliarmus!" then ducked as a death eater, the one he'd just disarmed, lunged at him ferociously. 

Hermione screamed, still throwing spells and curses toward the death eaters, who were now being joined by three others who were racing down the hallway, firing spells just as rapidly as the three of them were. Harry cast a full body-bind curse on one of the approaching attackers, and Andromeda petrified another. 

Back in the office, Draco had ordered Ron to crack open the case that concealed the sword, then keep it safe until one of them had come up after him for it. Draco was running down the stairs, his wand brandished, and his heart on fire. Something inside of him was screaming. He had to protect Harry. Andromeda and Hermione would be fine on their own, but Harry only ever cast disarming spells. He was too afraid to do the nitty-gritty, he had too strong of a Savior Complex. Harry would almost certainly die if Draco didn't take over.

He burst through the opening to the staircase and shot an entrail-expelling curse at one of the hooded men, who fell over with an excruciating scream and began to writhe on the concrete as the spell took its course of action throughout his body. Harry went pale as he stared at Draco with wide, blood-shot eyes, and spluttered.

"God, Potter, don't waste my time!" He screamed at him, continuing to cast stinging hexes and other jinxes of the like. Harry shook his head, bringing himself back to reality, and began to corner a death eater, when he was hit by a poorly-aimed spell in the small of his back. Andromeda and Hemione hardly noticed, but Draco yelped and ran over to him, fighting off the death eater that Harry had been warding off, and casting a protective bubble around them, he began to look over the damage that had been done to Harry's body.

He caught sight of abrasions, gashes, and scars on Harry's back and around his spine. Draco was immediately outraged. His blood boiled, and something rose up within his stomach.

He stood up, magic vibrating and crackling around him with his anger, and then cried, "SECTUMSEMPRA!" In the direction of the nearest death eater. He spun around, not daring to look at the damage he'd just caused, and lifted Harry with a strength he did not know he had. 

"Andi, Hermione, I'm going to get the brooms, then grab Ron. We need to go," He announced, his eyes never leaving Harry.

He then summoned their brooms, and Hermione and Andi hopped onto theirs gracefully, racing down the corridor. The remaining death eaters ran after them, though they were too quick to be caught. Draco lifted Harry, who was confused and in pain, onto their broom. He placed Harry in front of him, then leaned over him as to make sure he was secure. The two of them took off up the winding staircase to Dumbledore's office, and Draco landed. He ordered Ron, who boasted the sword proudly, to get on the very end of the broom and pray that he didn't fly off. 

Once Ron had clambered onto the tail-end of the broom, Draco climbed back onto it with Harry and led them through an open window. He dipped down, nearly crashing into the grass below, and then jerked them back up into the air, so high that the earth below was hardly able to be seen. Draco was holding onto Harry so tightly it hurt. 

***

"Merlin, Potter," Draco muttered. All of them were back in the tent. Andromeda had cast a Lumos and lit an oil lamp to provide a source of light for Draco, who was leaning over Harry and dabbing at the injuries on his back with a hot cloth that Andi had provided for him. Hermione was poring over a book, looking for a spell that would reverse the effects of the curse that Harry had been hit with. 

Harry was still extremely confused and unaware of his surroundings, so they'd cast a sleeping charm on him to make the process of healing him easier and as painless as possible. 

"I've done this too many times," He said, turning towards Andromeda, who's hand was placed on his right shoulder. She nodded knowingly with a hum.

"Yes, you have. Let me take over, you go relax. You've been through a lot today, we all have."

She smiled at him with warm eyes as he sighed and moved over to sit next to Ron, who was staring intently at his near-lifeless best friend. 

Andromeda's heart broke as she looked over the abrasions and such that graced Harry's brown skin, "He's got so many scars. Do you think he was hit with some other curse? I've never heard of something that would give him so many at once."

Hermione glanced at Ron, biting her tongue, and grimaced as Ron opened his mouth to explain. 

"Those aren't from a curse."

Andromeda and Draco raised their eyebrows, looking rather alike to one another. She waved her hand, motioning for Ron to elaborate upon his statement.

"They're from his aunt and uncle. They raised him and, well, they didn't do a very good job," Ron's voice was shaky as he spoke. He wiped forming tears from his eyes, "I've seen them once in a while when we've been changing in the dormitory at Hogwarts, but never this close up. Usually, he's put a glamour charm over himself."

Andromeda drew in a sharp breath, tearing her eyes away from Ron's and biting her lower lip. A tear streaked down her cheek as she turned back to Harry and began casting the few healing charms she knew since Hermione had given up looking for a reverse charm and had closed the informational book she was reading from. Draco shook his head.

"I knew he'd not had a great childhood. He told me about some of it. I just didn't know it was _that_ bad," He said quietly, not to anyone in particular.

***

When Harry finally came to, it was almost five in the morning. He drew in a sharp breath, which made a slight whistling noise. He very quickly realized that he was stripped of his shirt, and he was lying down on his stomach. He breathed back out again when a ruthless pain shot up his spine, causing him to twitch.

He felt his ankle brush against Draco's, and then he felt Draco shift around a bit in the place where he slept.

"Shit," He exclaimed as he recognized the situation. They knew.

They all knew much more than he'd ever wanted them to know. Ron and Hermione had known that he was abused, but he'd never purposefully shown them his scars or gone into detail about how many they were and their individual sizes. He'd talked to Draco briefly about his past but hadn't told him much, and as for Andi, she hadn't even known.

He rolled over onto his back, which stung due to the healing abrasions he had gained from their fight with the Death Eaters. 

Draco sniffled, reaching up sleepily to rub at his tired eyes. He sat up, peeking up subtly at Harry, then met eyes with him. 

Harry peered up at him sadly, "I'm sorry."

"What, why?"

Harry sat up, lightly pushing Draco away by the chest. 

"You shouldn't have seen it. I'm disgusting."

Draco grabbed Harry's hands and leaned closer toward him, still staring into his glistening emerald green eyes.

"Why would you ever say that about yourself?"

"It's true, that's why," Harry explained, breaking eye contact and beginning to stand up. 

Draco pulled him back down with a thud, "This conversation isn't over. Besides, you shouldn't be up and moving right now, that curse took a lot of energy out of you."

"I feel fine," Harry lied stubbornly, though he did not attempt to rise again.

"You are absolutely not disgusting, Potter. I don't ever want to hear you say that about yourself again," Draco said, his eyes welling up with tears that were stinging his pupils.

"Don't lie to me."

"I'm not lying to you, Potter. You're anything but disgusting!"

***

Halfway through the day, when all the others were out and enjoying the sun, Andromeda pulled back the closed curtain and approached Harry, who was lying in his bed. Draco had refused to let him get up and go outside with them, even though he'd wanted to.

"Hey, do you have the locket?" She asked, startling him.

"Yes, why?"

"I think it's about time we destroy that damn thing."


End file.
